


Little Blue Bird

by MidNightWriter42



Category: One Piece
Genre: Baby Birb!Marco, Baby Birb!Marco is adorable, But also kind of a badass!, F/M, I have no idea how tags work, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reader is lonely, Stranded!Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2019-06-14 11:18:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15387612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidNightWriter42/pseuds/MidNightWriter42
Summary: Marco's Flames of Resurrection are about to consume him, leaving him weak and defenseless. Yet, on this tiny island in the middle of an endless ocean, a lost and stranded soul will be his saving grace.





	1. He fell out of the Sky in a Ball of FIRE!

Soaring through the sky, Marco pushed himself to fly faster, a strange fatigue settled in his bones. Bizarre yet familiar sensation, a feeling that the 1st Division Commander was all too familiar with. As amazing and handy his akuma no mi powers were, there was one major drawback that leaves him completely exposed and vulnerable.

Once every 10 years, Marco would be stuck in his Phoenix form for about a month. After being consumed by his own Flames of Resurrection, he is born again in the form of a small defenseless chick and he is forced to re-grow into his adult form. On the morning after the final night, he would be able to change back into his human form but not before then.

So, with this in mind and the fact that he was miles away from the safety of the Moby Dick, Marco was panicking.

‘ _Damn it!_ ’ Marco cursed to himself. ‘ _I’m not gonna make it! I’m sorry, Pops._ ’

The steady increase in the temperature in his usually cool flames was the only sign of the impending combustion. At the moment, it was on the cusp of it’s limit before the inevitable.

Normally, at this point he'd be safely tucked away on the Moby with Pops and his brothers there to help him. But, this time an urgent call from one of their islands had pulled him away. It was supposed to be a quick call but things were more out of control than initially thought, cue this costing him a few precious extra hours needed to get back.

‘ _I have to land NOW!_ ’ Fortunately, Marco was right above a tiny island. ‘ _I hope I can find a safe place before it's too late,_ ’ changing his course, he quickly circled back down towards the thick forest that occupied most of the island.

Sadly, Marco’s smooth landing was ruined when suddenly he was consumed by a brilliant teal and gold flame. Burning brightly for a few short seconds the flame fell to the forest floor and tumbled for a few paces before coming to a complete stop at the base of a huge oak tree.

After a few seconds, the flames finally began to die down leaving behind a small pile of smoldering ash.

 

\---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Living on such a tiny island didn’t really bother you that much…

It was the lack of companionship that really bothered you. Shipwrecked here at such a young age, it was either survive or die for you. With a iron will to live, you got your shit together and thrived. And so, you have resided here for the past some years. Long enough to have built yourself a cute little cabin that keeps out the weather and even a relatively small garden of edible vegetation and herbs.

Your morning had started off the same as the many days before, getting up at the crack of dawn and going about your daily business with relatively low to no problems with the few predators on the island. Later in the evening, however, everything took a sudden turn.

Suddenly, the sky overhead was illuminated in a bright golden light and after shielding your eyes from the light, you could see a brilliant ball of teal and gold flames shooting down from the sky like a falling star.

‘ _What the heck is that?!_ ’ you tried to keep your eyes on it but it was too bright. ‘ _A star?!_ ’

And suddenly, it just fizzled out. However, you could see that it hit the island from the trajectory.

Swiftly dodging better trees and deftly leaping over rocks and shrubs, you followed the path of the star. As you got closer and closer to the impact site, you watched the brilliant blaze as it dimmed down until finally, it became nothing more than a faint plume of smoke. The closer that you got to the crash site, you couldn’t help but feel an eerie feeling growing in the atmosphere.

‘ _What’s going on?_ ’ you slowed your pace almost to a stop, effectively silencing any noise you made. The only sound that you could hear was the faint rustling your movements caused in the tall grass. ‘ _I can’t hear any birds or large animals moving… This is the quietest that I’ve heard the forest._ ’

Determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, you cautiously proceeded onwards.

Whatever had plummeted to the earth had landed by the base of a huge tree located on the edge of a clearing. While you came to a stealthy stop at the opposite end of the clearing.

So, not being a fool to rush on ahead, you waited and observed.

From where you were, you could see a small pile of ash sitting at the base of the tree. But what truly struck you as odd was the lack of burn or scorch marks on the ground or the wood of the tree despite the obvious presence of fire.

‘ _Maybe it finished burning up before the collision?_ ’ you wondered as you finally leaned out of your hiding spot and slowly made your way to the pile of ash. ‘ _A meteor, maybe?_ ’ you took a few carefully measured steps before stopping an arm’s length away. ‘ _Pfft, maybe it’s an alien,_ ’ you joked to yourself.

Suddenly, the little pile of ash moved!

You jumped slightly a took a step back as the ash pile twitch a couple more times. After a few more twitches, you were about ready to leave before something could possibly attach itself to your face. But, you stopped when a pair of big sleepy blue eyes peeked out of the pile.

‘ _What the-?_ ’ before you could continue that thought, the little being shook the ash from its tiny body, leaving behind an absolutely adorable fluffy teal chick with dark blue markings around its eyes and a wispy tuft of gold feathers atop its head.

Staring wide-eyed at the sleepy looking chick, you couldn’t help but move to take a closer look at it. From its vibrant plumage to its arrival on the island, everything screamed odd about this little fellow… But… It was so damn CUTE!!

You furrowed your brows as you mulled over the possible things that you could do or the things you should do. “This is freaky,” you murmured aloud as the little bird looked around as if it was assessing its surroundings. “I should probably leave you, your Mom or Pops are probably looking for you,” the little bird seemed to perk up at the mention of its parents, as it was now looking at you again with those big blue eyes. It even went so far as to let out a tiny cheep!

‘ _Gah! That’s so adorable!_ ’ you clutched your chest, unable to stand the sheer adorableness of the tiny fluff-ball.

“Anyway, I gotta go, little bird,” you stand up. “I hope your Ma or Pa find you soon,” you just as you started to walk away, you suddenly heard the little chick start to fuss behind you. The poor thing let out several hi-pitched chirps, if you didn’t know any better you’d say that the little guy was scared of being left alone.

Unable to find it in yourself to deny the frightened chick, you turned around to see that it had followed after you a couple of steps. You felt a slight stab of guilt in your gut when you noticed that the poor thing’s feathers were more fluffed up than before, probably from the scare that you gave it.

One look into the big blue eyes and you were done.

With a resigned sigh, you turned and squatted down in front of the blue chick.

“Alright, I’ll take you with me,” you tried to be stern with your new charge. “But, you better not ruin any of my stuff!” you lowered your hand down to the chick’s level, offering to carry it as there’d be no way for it to keep up with you on its own.  
It looked down at your hand before looking back up at you, then after a moment, it hopped into your cupped palm, fitting perfectly. When you lifted it up to eye-level, the little bird chirped happily at you and even flapped its tiny wings as if it was saying thanks.

You offered a smile to the little avain before standing up and taking long strides back to your home, as in the pursuit of the ‘meteor’ it had taken you almost to the other side of the tiny island.

It was mid-trip back that you realized that you had been talking to a bird as if it were human.

A rather sad yet sobering thought, you let out a quiet chuckle at the epiphany.

This caused the little bird to look up at you and tilt its head as if it were wondering what you found so funny.

“I’ve been here almost 6 years and I’m already going insane,” you hopped over a log in the path, careful to not jostle the bird too much. “I can’t believe I’ve already resorted talking to birds,” you cautiously watched the forest in case one of the predators on the island got gutsy. “Not just any bird but a weird flaming blue one that fell from the sky in a ball of fire… Perhaps, I really am losing it and your just an illusion, little Blue.”

These thoughts frightened you. True, you had fared much better than a lot of people, but it's been a long time since you seen anyone let alone had intelligent company. The bleak reality of your situation and the idea that you’d live and die on this island chilled you to the bone.

As if sensing the dark thoughts rolling in your head like an angry thundercloud, the little blue bird chirped loudly and pecking at the hand holding it.

Effectively, pulling you from your thoughts with a wince.

“Okay, Okay, Blue! You’re not an illusion and I’m not nuts,” with your free hand, you rubbed the spot it pecked at. “Geez, just chirp next time. Well, on the upside, I got a name for you!”

Blue gave a happy little chirp and flapped it’s too-tiny wings.

The rest of the trip back was spent in a amicable silence. Fortunately, because everything was done earlier in the day, you had plenty of food and resources for your new little friend.

“Whelp, here we are, Blue,” you smiled as you finally emerged from the forest and your cabin was in plain view. “It’s no palace, but it does its job pretty well,” the little bird in your hand trilled in agreement.

Stepping into your cabin, you took a second to take it in, mentally assessing where you could put your friend while it or you slept. It was a small single room square cabin with your cot pushed into the left corner against the far wall, a fire pit for cooking sat in the middle of the room and in the far left corner was a couple of makeshift baskets and salvaged crates from your initial shipwreck ages ago.

Taking a seat near the fire pit, Blue hopped out of your hand once it was close enough to the ground, apparently eager to move about more.

“Okay, ground rules, little… guy? … girl?” you raise a brow as you watched it waddle around. “Alright. Rule number 1, don’t ruin my stuff,” you affirmed once you got it’s attention, and as if understanding you it nodded its head. “Awesome, Rule 2! Don’t poop on my stuff. Seriously.”

It was at that last one, that the little bird suddenly looked as if it were offended as it puffed out its feathers and abruptly turned its back to you. Evidently, showing that he was displeased with you.

The rather cute display caused you to giggle. “Alright, Blue. I’m sorry for the last one,” you leaned over and gently petting the little golden plumage at the top of his head.

It first, it didn’t react, seemingly dead set on ignoring you but after a couple more pets, the little bird gave in and leaned into your hand as you moved to rub its cheek. Even going so far as to coo happily at one point.

Sadly, the head pets were disturbed when you felt your stomach grumble from lack of food.

“Alright, time for dinner!” you sadly moved your hand away from the baby bird, it was then that you remembered something. Something very crucial. “What do you even eat?”


	2. Missing You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is missing someone.  
> This mainly focuses on Marco & the Whitebeard's thoughts and feelz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marco isn't that much bigger as its only been a few days.  
> But, basically, Marco is missin' his fam and they are missin' him.

\----- 3 Days Ago -----

It was late in the night when they had received the call for help from a terrified mayor some islands over. In a normal situation, the crew would simply call one of their sister ships or an ally who happened to be in their area to help whatever disaster had occured on the island. But sadly, they knew that there was no one in the area that could render aid to the suffering community, so they would’ve had to wake their sleeping crewmates and change course immediately. Yet, this time around the 1st Division Commander couldn’t bring himself to wake them. Especially after all the times he’s harassed them in the past few days. So, he went to Whitebeard and offered to go and take care of the problem himself.

“Are you sure you wanna do this, Marco?” Whitebeard examined his oldest son from his chair.

While on the surface, the old Pirate appeared to be as calm as ever. However, even without Marco saying anything, Whitebeard could see that something was bothering the 1st Commander. Yet, it was all the small things that Whitebeard had observed that triggered his suspicions. 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Marco reaffirmed as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s just a couple of islands away,” he reasoned, “I’ll be gone a day at the most, yoi.”

“It’s because you’ve been harassing everyone as of late, isn’t it?” Whitebeard leveled his first son with a knowing look. “You’ve been fussing more and more over the little things as of late,” when Marco looked away and refused to look him in the face, Whitebeard immediately knew what was going on. “You’re gonna go through your Rebirth soon,” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

One that Marco very much didn’t like. This feeling only more amplified when the Phoenix zoan gave a slight nod.

“However,” Whitebeard cleared his throat and Marco finally looked back at him. “If you think that you can get everything done a day before then, then you can go.” Whitebeard gave a firm nod of his head, a final order.

“Alright, I’ll head out now then, yoi,” Marco turned and moved to leave the room, but not before bidding his father. “Thanks, Oyaji! See you soon,” Whitebeard nodded his head and watched Marco leave, the door swinging shut behind him.

Unable to stop the feeling of foreboding, Whitebeard quietly stared at the door that Marco exited through. “Be safe,” Whitebeard softly prayed into the darkness of the room.

 

\----- Now with Marco’s POV -----

‘Five days…’ Marco watched the sun slowly rise on the distant horizon from his place in the doorway of his new ‘accommodations.’ Now stuck in the tiny body with no way of getting back to the Moby Dick and to his family, he’s been forced to rely on this stranger for food and protection.

‘I hope, everyone is doing okay,’ the first division commander’s heart was heavy with worry for this family. ‘I hope Pops isn’t harassing the nurses too much… or that Ace isn’t breaking into the food storage… or that Thatch and Haruta’s pranking wars isn’t getting out of control.’

It was then the sound of someone moving around that brought Marco from his thoughts.

Glancing back, Marco watched as his new ‘caretaker’ roll over in her sleep, as if she was trying to hid from the growing sunlight. Over the past couple days since arriving on the island, everything has been a bit of a learning experience… For both of them.

It started off with food, where her had actually tried to feed him worms! Marco tried to repress a shudder at the memory, fortunately, she got the idea quickly enough after a few angry pecks and squacks. Thankfully, they were able to solve that problem relatively quickly.

When it came to sleeping, she was kind enough to offer a ripped up piece of fabric, to which he was quick to work it into a haphazard nest. It wasn’t great but it’d work for now.

The last part was still a bit of a problem though, as during this time he’d often find himself seeking out company and ‘protection.’ This was a problem when the only ‘safe’ company on the island had to continuously spend most of the day in the forest, scavenging for food and supplies. Often leaving him back at the cabin to quietly wait for her return.

However, when it came down to his new friend’s name, it was a bit of a mystery. As she the clue to her past was that she was here for six years, she hadn’t really shed light on her identity. What he did find in the small cabin was the name ‘_____’ stitched into one of the stripes of fabric that he had be given. And, as the name didn’t seem as though it was a brand name, he had opted to use it for his new companion. Besides, the name felt oddly fitting when he used it to refer to her in his head.

It was then that he heard another loud grumble from his new roommate as she began the apparently usual morning struggle of waking up. It was when that with great trepidation that she finally sat up, with her (h/c) wild and askew from a night of tossing and turning.

With her tired eyes, she looked around the cabin before focusing on him by the door, to which he chirped a good morning. She smiled fondly at the little bird and laughed to herself.

“You’re always up before me, Blue.” she got up and walked over to him before offering her hand to him, to which he readily hopped into. “I guess you could say, that your a bit of an ‘Early Bird,’” she giggled to herself, too pleased with the horrible pun.

Marco visibly rolled his blue eyes. ‘It’s not the worst I’ve heard, but still.’ No, the title of ‘King of Worst Puns’ belongs rightfully to Thatch.

“Hey, don’t give me the eye roll,” ______ used her thumb to gently rub Marco’s cheek, softly ruffling the tiny feathers. Marco found himself begrudgingly leaning into it. “Anyway, I need to get going or else we won’t have anything to eat tonight.”

Sadly, she pulled her thumb away as she went and put him in his little nest by her bedside. Marco couldn’t help the swell of distress that washed over him, ‘No! Dont go!’ Marco found himself letting out little chirps of distress just as she started to walk away.

When he first went through the Rebirth stages, he reacted very much the same whenever Pops disappeared for more than a few seconds. Not his most proudest moments…

He looked up at her sadly as she finally turned to look at him, she stayed there for a good sold minute before sighing heavily.

“Okay, fine!” she placed her hands on her hips. “I’ll take you with me for today. But! Only today,” even though her tone was stern, Marco couldn’t help but trill happily.

With that, she was quick to get everything ready for going out and foraging. Dressing in the main area of the Cabin, to which Marco was quick to look away. With her makeshift weapon of choice in one hand, she offered a hand to Marco and then placed him in her breast pocket before she set out for the day.

Throughout the day, Marco found himself amazed as she sped through the forest, easily handling a few massive predators on the island with but a simple glare. Most ran away from her frightened out of their wits but some who tried to be gutsy and challenge her for ‘territory’ were quick to figure out it was a bad idea when she would simply glare back.

There was one familiar pulse or pressure but Marco couldn’t help but wonder. ‘Can she use Conqueror's Haki?!’

Their day was mostly spent foraging for usable materials to build things or looking for edible vegetation. They went down to the shoreline on one side of the island and Marco found out that she had actually built a fishing net! It yielded a few fish this time but there was a massive hole in it that sadly needed to be repaired.

By the evening, they were heading back to the cabin with a bag of the day’s spoils on her back. Marco couldn’t help but noticed that she looked a little bit winded by the time that they returned, however instead of resting, _____ quickly went to work repairing the broken fishing net.

Now that they have returned to the peace and safety of their cabin, Marco was happy to be out of her pocket. As much fun as it was to ride around there throughout the day, it was rather embarrassing for the First Division Commander of the Legendary Whitebeard Pirates to be riding around in a pocket like that. He was so used to simple extending his beautiful wings and taking flight whenever he so pleased, held aloft by powerful air currents and simply gliding there over the Moby proud and happy of his family with all their quirkiness.

It was a sight that he missed sorely now that he was so tiny, his wings still far to small for him to be airborne. But, he was happy to note that steadily he was growing but for now his wings were still far too small.

“Hey, little buddy,” called _____ as she had just finished making dinner and she placed a small tin lid with a variety of seeds on it. “Time for dinner,” she smiled as she went about eating her own portion of fish by the fireside.

Quickly finishing off his own ‘food,’ Marco found himself seeking out her companionship and hopped over to sit by her, gently nudging her side before grabbing onto the material of her pants and hauling himself up onto her thigh. After he managed to get up there, he just looks back at her with his sleepy eyes before turning and staring at the fireplace. Not really acknowledging her questioning looking but just enjoying her company.

“You really are a weird one, Blue,” _____ finished off the last of her meal. After words, she leaned back slightly with her arms supporting her, finally happy now that she has a full stomach. “Hey, thinkin’ bout your family?” her voice was barely above a whisper as they sat in the hush of twilight.

Their tiny cabin was bathed in the dying light of a sunset, the darkness of night slowly growing with each moment.

He only answered with a slight nod of his head. It was quiet moments like this that really hit home how much he missed everyone. It was then he felt a couple of fingers gently scratch the back of his neck, a warm comforting weight.

“I miss my family too, Blue. But dont worry! I’m sure your family are looking all over for you.”

Neither party would know until much later exactly how right she was.  
\------------------- With the Whitebeards --------------------

Marco hadn’t even be gone a full week and the entire ship had descended into complete and utter CHAOS!

With the absence of their First Division Commander, the duties that Marco was responsible for were split among the other Commanders, however, no one was particularly prepared for all of the other things that Marco did. Like, when things went missing he always seemed to know where they were, making sure Ace was okay whenever he’d have a narcoleptic fit in the most unusual of places or when he’d toss Haruta or Thatch into the ocean every time they’d get out of control with their pranks.

Now, the reports were all mixed up, no one had any idea how to do the finances and pretty much the moral on the ship tanked surprisingly quickly. All of them were missing their ‘Big Brother.’

“Has anyone seen my hat?” called Vista as he rummaged around in his room, turning everything over not once but thrice in the process.

Meanwhile, a certain cook with a pompadour ran as fast as he possibly could with an angry Haruta behind him, cackling all the way.

“COME BACK HERE THATCH!! I’M GONNA KILL YOU!” roared the small commander, he was covered from head to toe in confetti and glitter.

“Come on! I was just tryin’ to lighten the moo-ack!” Thatch was suddenly going ass over tea kettle as he tripped over Ace laying face down in the middle of the hall, the result of a narcoleptic fit.

Fortunately, when it came to the actual running of the ship itself, everything was fine. But, Whitebeard couldn’t help the heavy and tense sigh as he looked out onto his unhappy sons. However, what troubled the old captain the most was the fact that his oldest son was now out there tiny, defenseless and alone! He knew that Marco was anything but weak, however as a parent this was the worst possible thing.

So, not waiting anymore, Whitebeard slammed the blunt end of his halberd down and stood from his seat on deck. “EVERYONE, SET SAIL FOR OHAROWA!” the air shook around him as the atmosphere became tense and heavy. “It’s time to bring your Big Brother home.”

With a cheer of agreement from his sons, everyone went into action for their journey.

“Do you think he’s okay?” asked a soft voice from his left, Whitebeard immediately knew who it was. Poor Thatch was having a tough time with Marco gone, sure the cook always ruffled the Phoenix’s feathers with horrible puns and pineapple jokes but all these acts stemmed from a genuine sibling relation between the two. And it was clearly that the other’s absence was having an physical effect on the cook, the usual spritely cook looked exhausted and generally unwell.

“You must have faith in him,” Whitebeard reminded softly as he looked out and watched his sons get everything into motion for their trip. “We’ll find him.”


	3. Fluttering Feathers and Thunder Storms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco is about the size of a duck here.

The days had been passing much more slowly now, seemingly short monotonous days had finally come to an end when a little blue bird had descended onto your little island in a blaze of glory. Unexpected at first and strange to say the least, you found yourself growing attached to your new little friend as they filled the silences with tiny little chirps and tweets. Even at times, it felt as though Blue could actually understand you, joining you in the quiet repose of twilight or pecking your hand to stop you from drowning in your mind.

Blue may be a bird, but there were times you would swear that he was human.

Yet, as the days went by with your new companion, you got to watch him grow more and more. From the defenseless little chick, he was now about the size of an adult duck but the most growth had easily been in his wings as now they were large enough to support his weight in flight.

“Keep tryin’ Blue,” you encouraged from the sidelines. “I’m sure you’ll get it soon!”

Said bird just gives you a rather unimpressed look after he clumsily tried to gain lift again, it was his sixteenth try that morning. The moment he had started to lose the soft downy fluff and gain proper flight feathers, he had immediately started trying to fly, often doing short leaps with awkward flaps in the beginning. It’d be cute if he didn’t do it in the cabin and almost slap you in the face several times while doing it. Since then it’d seem as though he was getting worse with each attempt and his frustration was growing as he’d huff and glare.

It wasn’t long until he waddled back over and flopped down on the threshold of your cabin, clicking his beak as if out of frustration.

As he grew and shed his little fledgling feathers, he matured into a rather elegant young bird with smooth teal feathers and had even sprouted a couple of long intricate golden feathers. With a pair of sharp talons and a pointed beak, there was no doubt in your mind that he could probably cause quite a bit of damage if he so decided. However, you did notice a strange navy mark starting to form of his chest, to which he seemed to groom the spot religiously.

“Awww, Come on,” you couldn’t help but chuckle at the rather annoyed look on the usually calm birds face. “You almost had it that it,” you smiled down at Blue as you gently rubbed the back of his neck, his weakness. Yet it seems, despite your best efforts to calm your friend, he was set on being a grump.

“Okay, Okay, I get it!” you put your hands up in surrender and stood from your seat, stretching your arms up and over your head in the process. “I should actually get going and get food for the day,” you smiled at the avian before heading back in to grab your foraging gear.

Blue gave you a slightly distressed look upon hearing that. Now that he had grown much larger and was slowly becoming more independent, you couldn’t really carry him around anymore, at least not without it being slightly cumbersome. And unfortunately that was something that you couldn’t afford on this island.

“No, Blue, you can’t come,” you stated firmly as you grabbed your bag and weapon. “I can’t carry you around anymore and you’ll slow me down,” you reasoned with the bird when he continued to give you the same sleepy/worried look. “How bout this, you can help me when you can fly, alright?” this seemed to placate the bird as he looked away from you and preened the feathers on his chest.

“Alright, see you later then Blue!” you gave him one last neck scritch before heading out. “Don’t forget to keep practicing!” you happily called back once you were farther down the hill and closer to the forest. A few seconds later you could hear a loud chirp.

Looking up at the sky, you checked to see how much time you had before the larger predators became more active and much to your chagrin you couldn’t help but notice the growing storm cloud on the far horizon, one that hadn’t been there moments before.

Being stranded out in the New World, you knew that the weather could be unpredictable so any changes in the weather made you very anxious and apprehensive.

So, not wasting any time, you quickly set about getting what you needed and even grabbing/hunting extra just in case things went wrong.

 

Returning much later to the cabin when you would’ve liked, the dark clouds that loomed in the distance were now directly overhead and they brought a ton of rainfall, wind and of course, the low threatening rumble of thunder.

It’d seem that Blue had been worried about you, as when you got close enough to the cabin, you could see him perched on the doorsill. He was glancing back and forth from the sky to you and back again before letting out a low worried coo.

“Don’t worry, Blue!” you quickly entered the cabin and closed the creaky makeshift door, the bird following after you. “Everything’ll be fine. I’ve been through more than a couple storms with this ol’ shack.” As if to prove your point, you lightly hit the wall, only to hear a low warning groan echo through the small space.

At this, Blue gave you another worried glance as you returned his look with a sheepish grin.

“It’ll be alright,” you reassured him, although this was partly for yourself. “Let’s eat and then go to bed, hopefully the storm will be over by morning,” you reasoned as you quickly started pulling things that you had gathered throughout the day. Unfortunately, it seemed that most animals had the sense to run and hide when the storm began to really roll in, so you didn’t have any meat for the night.

Preparing your meal with practiced easy, you listened to the creaking and groaning of the wooden walls, Blue sat close by your side. A comforting warmth despite the very real danger that the two of them are in.

The meal went by quickly and after making sure that everything was in place on last time, you went off to bed to wait out the storm with your companion. However, despite everything, you couldn’t sleep as you could hear the sounds of the storms, growing stronger and stronger with each passing moment outside.

It was then late into the night an audible boom shook through the air, causing you and Blue to bolt up straight as a flash of light lit up the sky. It was then that Blue let out a distressed cry and fled from the cabin and out into the storm. Alarmed and frightened for the stat of your friend, you surged into action, scrambling from your bed and out of the cabin.

Quickly as you could, you spotted the familiar flash of blue admong the undergrowth at the edge of the forest.

“Blue! Come Back!” you cried to the bird, your heart bounded wildly as another dangerous flash of light danced across the sky. “Blue!” you cried out once more as you tried to get closer to where he had taken shelter, yet your voice was easily snuffed out by the howling winds and the boom of the thunder.

Buffeted from all sides by the powerful winds, you struggled to remain upright but managed to get close enough to the treeline. Scared blue eyes mirror your own from the bushes, urging you onwards.

With a final stumble, you made it. “It’s okay,” you tried to comfort the bird, gently scratching the back of his neck, like you had all those times before. “It’s alright, let's get back insi-”

Suddenly an earth shattering explosion rocked the tiny island.

You quickly pulled the bird to your chest and held on for dear life as the once firm soil shuddered beneath your feet. The seconds ticked by unbearably.

After a few moments, you pulled away from the bird and looked behind you.  
There where your cabin once stood was nothing more than a smoldering wreckage, the earth scorched black and whatever lay inside was incinerated into nothing more than ashes.

Your heart continued to flutter wildly as you stared at the spot, Blue let out a soft coo behind you.

‘By the Maiden,’ you felt your hands began to shake slightly as your brain finally registered what had happened. ‘If Blue hadn’t run out then, we would’ve been dead!’ you turn back to look into Blue’s eyes before pulling him closer and hugging him gently, to which he seemed to understand and quickly leaned into the hug.

“T-thank you, Blue,” you managed to stammer out. “Thank you so much!”

It was then that a loud boom from overhead that reminded the two of you that now you were exposed to the elements and without any shelter. Quickly looking up at the sky one last time before you look back down at Blue.

“Come on, I know where a cave is,” with that you turned and was about to head deeper into the forest when suddenly, you heard the flapping of wings and a weight settle on your shoulder. With blue feathers brushing your face, you quickly moved to accommodate the bird. ‘It’s okay, buddy. You saved my butt, I won't let anything happen to you,’ you promised to him quietly before lifting a hand to gently soothe the feathers down.

It was then that you set out towards an old abandoned cave, located more towards the heart of the forest on the island. It was rather conveniently located close to a pond that was the only source of freshwater on the island.

Once you were inside the cave and safe from the storms, you tiredly dropped down onto the hard stony floor of the cave, Blue had jumped down from your shoulder moments before.

“Welp, here we are!” you lazy threw a hand out as if to show off the cave. “It’s not perfect, but when I first got stranded, this is where I stayed,” Blue stalked around the cave a little bit before looking back at you, you could see that he was worried by the way that the feathers on his head would fluff up. “Relax, Blue! I know what I’m doing!” you tried to calm his nerves. “Although, let's hope that I don’t die from hypothermia,” you tried to joke but realized that it sounded rather morbid. “Anyway, with the storm still going on, there is nothing we can do. So, let's get what sleep that we can before seeing what we can salvage tomorrow.”

Blue cooed at you as you shifted to lay down on the floor, once you were somewhat comfortable, he came over and settled down as close as he possibly could. As if he was trying to share his warmth and bring what comfort he could.

\----------------------- 5 Hours Later & Elsewhere ----------------------------

“WHAT?!” roared Thatch as he glared down at the terrified mayor of Oharowa, the poor man was pure white with fear at the angry cook. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE ISN’T HERE?!” behind him, several of his brothers held onto his arms and legs in a effort to hold him back. “HE CAME HERE TO HELP YOU WITH A PROBLEM THAT YOU COULD’VE SORTED OUT ON YOUR OWN,” Thatch continued his tirade as he was finally dragged away from the mayor, practically foaming at the mouth at this point.

It was then that Izo came forward and calmly says, “Look, we were just hoping that you could give us any information on where Marco could possibly be.” The okama tried to remain calm and rational despite his partner’s irrational behaviour.

“H-he left here after taking care of the problem,” stuttered out the mayor, relieved that the irate cook wasn’t threatening him anymore. “It was a while ago and he left right away after checking in with me. I’m sorry but thats all that I know.”

With a disappointed sigh, Izou nodded his head. “I understand, thank you for the information,” dejected by the lack of information about their missing big brother, Izou excused himself and left the mayor’s house. In the background, he could distantly hear Thatch still ranting and raving in the distance as their brothers had finally managed to drag him back to the empty docks.

Joining his brothers and lover, Izou couldn’t help but lightly wrap the cook on his head, finally causing him to go quiet before gently berating him. “Look, Thatch.” he leveled the cook with a disapproving look, at this the remaining brothers quickly moved off to give the two some privacy. “I understand that you miss Marco, we all do, but that doesn’t mean that you can threaten innocent bystanders,” Izou gently brushes a hand against Thatch’s cheek, to which the cook happily leaned into his palm and placed a soft kiss.

“I know but . . .” Thatch’s argument died on his lips as he gave Izou a sad look.

“Come on, Pops will wanna hear what we discovered,” Izou placed a quick chaste kiss to Thatch’s lips, which the cook chased slightly when they parted. Before they quickly boarded the Moby and went to inform their Pops.

“Hmm, so he isn’t here, eh?” the giant captain rubbed his chin in thought, wondering where on earth his first son could possibly be.

“There are a bunch of smaller archipelagos around here,” reasoned Haruta. “Maybe, he’s on one of them.”

“Possibly,” Whitebeard murmured. “Let's head out to the closest ones and check there, one of them must have at least seen him,” The aging captain leaned farther back into his chair as the nurses carefully monitored his health, since Marco had disappeared, they have been taking extra precautions. Honestly, Whitebeard thinks that they are over-reacting and its getting on his nerves a little.

“Apparently, a storm had settled in a little ways away from here,” voiced Jozu. “We should take precautions to avoid it,” the towering 3rd Division Commander to which a few murmurs of agreement were heard among the crowd of commanders.

“Mhmm,” Thatch nodded his head firmly. “Marco wouldn’t want us to take any unnecessary risks.”


	4. A Fishy Adventure

The morning after the storm was surprisingly calm, the scent of fresh rainfall permeated through the forest and a layer of mist drifted across the forest floor, catching the first few rays of morning sunlight as the last of the storm clouds finally dissipated in the sky above. Resting in the cave, Marco looked out into the forest from his place of rest.

‘Looks like it's finally over,’ he thought to himself as he looked up at the sky. ‘At least, we still had this cave,’ Marco mused quietly to himself as he absently watched a butterfly float harmlessly along the gentle morning breeze.

Huffing a soft breath, Marco was finally able to calm down after a long and stressful night. Normally, such a thing wouldn’t even bother Marco in the least, with this frightening level of vulnerability however it was a totally different story.

Tilting his beak down to gently groom the feathers on his chest, Marco found himself preening the spot often and was happy to note that Pops’ jolly roger was becoming clearer and clearer each day. A gentle reminder that his family is waiting for him and possibly looking for him…

‘Soon,’ he reaffirmed to himself. ‘Soon, I’ll be home again everyone.’

It was then that he heard a faint sniffle from his side, looking over Marco watched as she scrunched up her nose, still fast asleep and trying to stay that way. Letting out a soft chuckle, Marco couldn’t help but be reminded of how Ace would do the same whenever he’d have a fit.

However, what sense of peace they could muster was abruptly broken by the cry of a large bird overhead, sadly waking his friend.

Marco got up and shuffled away as she finally got up, groaning all the while. Going back to grooming and preening his feathers, Marco figuratively got ready for the day as well.  
It was then that he heard a low chuckle from his partner causing him to look up at her. She chuckled again to herself again and when Marco tilted her head, she only giggled hard. “Did you sleep at all? You look so much sleepier than normal,” she smiled and scratches that top of his head, right behind the plume of gold feathers atop his head.

Listening to the sound of her getting up and stretching the sleep and soreness from her joints, Marco found himself mourning the loss of their cabin and what protection it offered.

Finally seeming awake enough, Marco watched her as she stood at the mouth of the cave with a grin on her face. With a quick flap of his wings and a hop, he perched on her shoulder to which to quickly adjusted to his weight. Marco could see the grin on her face as she reached up a hand to pet the back of his head in a comforting motion.

“Heh, Just like old times,” she chuckled sadly to herself, probably reminded of the fact that she's been here for so long.

‘It’s okay, you’re not alone anymore,’ Marco cooed softly and pretended to preen her hair, coaxing a giggle from her.

“Thanks Blue,” she smiled warmly at him. “I don’t know where would I be if you weren’t here,” with that she beams before stepping out of the cave and into the wilderness. “Let's get going and see what we can salvage, shall we?”

Marco let out a happy chirp.

As they walked towards the remnants of the cabin, Marco felt an urge bubbling up in his chest. Tilting his head, Marco knew the feeling all too well but was still surprised to feel it this time around. In the past when he was like this, Marco often found himself hiding away under Pops’ protection as he would pick someone and stay near them, only a few of the commanders like Thatch and Jozu actually know about this unfortunate side effect of his akuma no mi. So, this being the first time that he was away from his family, it was a bit of a surprise for him but he couldn’t bring himself to push down the urge.

It was then as they moved through the underbrush, Marco tilted his feathered head back and happily sang out one of the many different drinking songs that he knew by heart.

Somewhat surprised by the sudden song, Marco heard her gasp and jump slightly beneath him before relaxing and letting out another giggle, to which Marco found himself happy to serenade her more.

With their spirits and hopes high after the nightmare of a storm, they happily made their way to the burnt remains of the cabin. Upon getting there, Marco could feel his partner’s spirits droop a bit upon seeing that there wasn’t really much for them to salvage in the first place. Bits and piece of burnt wood and scraps of cloth lie here and there around the area while all the remains of the cabin itself are little more than a smoldering pile of ash and wood.

Upon seeing the wreckage, Marco felt his own spirits dip as well.

It was then that she sighs audibly causing Marco to look over at her, tilting his head curiously at her.

As if reading his thoughts, she replied. “Well, at least I know what to do this time around,” she moved forward to look over a piece of burnt wood that lay not too far away. “Although, it is gonna be a little bit more trouble getting everything together again,” she picked up the piece of burnt wood after Marco finally hopped down from her shoulder to look up at her from his place on the ground. “This wood was actually from the shipwreck that landed me here,” she said aloud, Marco could hear the sadness in her voice. 

He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must’ve been like for her, to be all alone for so many years. The thought of being without his brothers and father for this month alone frightened him greatly.

She laughed softly to herself before turning to Marco. “Sorry, Blue. But it looks like I won’t be able to salvage any cloth for your nest,” she gave him an apologetic smile. To which Marco only chirped back.

“Well, nothing will get done if we just sit around!” with a confident claim, Marco watched as she rolled up her sleeves and got started with getting what she could. With his smaller frame, he could do little more than watch and maybe grab some smaller pieces of wood here and there.

To which he found himself doing so after watching her for a few moments, wanting to help in any way that he could.

Marco heard her giggle at him before she reached over and took the stick from his beak.

“That's sweet of you to want to help, Blue. But I don’t want you getting hurt or anything,” she smiled fondly at him, earning a huff of irritation and a fluff of brilliant feathers. “Why don’t you go practice flying? You were doing so well last time,” she offered.

So, with her stopping him when he tried to help, Marco could do little more than to go back to his flying practice. He was getting there!

. . . Slowly . . . 

\------------------------------------

Five days have passed since the night of the storm and for five long days, Marco was forced to watch her pull together a shelter for the two of them, all the while they stayed within the cave from that night. The shelter was nowhere near what it once was. Where the original cabin was a rather simple design, it was still well crafted and put together, the result of many years of hard labour. However, because many of the materials were now lost, they had to go and find new materials to create a cabin.

It wasn’t looking good.

But through this all, what really distressed the phoenix was the fact that the health of his companion was starting to slowly deteriorate. At first, it wasn’t apparent but then as the days passed, Marco began to quickly notice how much weight she had lost and how fatigued she was before the day was half way through. As a doctor, it was a habit of Marco’s to harass those who didn’t take care of themselves, a habit which earned him the irritating name of ‘Mother-Hen.’

Her clothing that once fit comfortable on her frame was slowly becoming loose and Marco knew the exact reason why. With most of their days being occupied with trying to build a new shelter, most of their means of acquiring food had been destroyed by the storm and the other beasts and creatures of the island were already incredibly weary of her.

As a result, they have clearly lost some weight.

It was then that Marco realized that unless something were to change and soon, starvation was a very really threat to their lives.

Following her again from the safety of the cave to their ramshackled shack, Marco couldn’t help but coo softly as he watched her carefully, unable to hid his worry. Since noticing her falling energy levels, he had stopped jumping on her shoulder.

“Its okay Blue,” she’d smile at him and gently scratch the back of his head. “It’s gonna be alright,” she reaffirmed to him over and over again. Although at this point, Marco thought it was more for herself rather than him.

‘It is gonna be alright,’ Marco found himself thinking. ‘Because I’m not gonna let anything happen to you!’ Marco furrowed his brows as he watched her buckle down for another day of hardwork and splinters. ‘And, when I’m back to normal, I’m taking you away from this horrible place...’

Between her positive attitude to her horrible puns, Marco thought she’d get along well with the rest of the Whitebeards and the added bonus that she can use Haki, even if she was unaware of it, only solidified that. It may be a shock for her to go from being alone to having so many brothers but he could tell from how she spoke and treated him that she’d been starved for attention and company.

So after making up his mind, Marco set out to find some food for his companion with steely determination!

Picking his way through the undergrowth, he made his way towards a pond some ways away, there he was hoping to find some fish or other edible amphibian. Sadly, due to his size and restrictions, he had to be careful with what he went after.

Upon arriving at the pond, Marco was pleased to discover that his hunch was proven to be true as lo and behold, he could make out the shadows of many little silver fish darting about below the surface of the water.

Eyeing the edge of the pond and looking for the best vantage point to start fishing, Marco waddled around the edge for a few moments before finding a suitable place and taking a seat at the very edge.

There, he sat and waited, watching his prey dart about.

He remained as still as a crane, focusing on a fish that had strayed to close and then quick as a whip, he shot forward and snapped up the fish from the pond. Satisfied, he turned away from the pond and deposited the fish a little ways away, so that it wouldn’t be able to flop back into the water.

After making sure that the coast was clear, he waddled back to the waterfront and continued his fishing expedition. 

It wasn’t until a couple hours later that Marco felt satisfied with his haul, satisfied enough to actually go back to his companion and show her how well he’d done! Puffing his chest feathers up in pride, Marco looked over his bounty of fish, it was almost as tall as he is!

‘Not to bad for a tiny pond,’ Marco preened happily. ‘With this many fish, we may even be able to save some for later!’ Something that Thatch would often do, should they accidently pull up too many fish.

However, the more that he looked over the fish, the more he began to realize something…

Something important…

He couldn’t carry that much fish back on his own… 

Mentally face-palming at his own stupidity, Marco began to ponder how he could get the fish back on his own. So with the obvious lack of a tool or an bag to carry his fish back. Marco took as many fish as he could fit in his beak and set out on the long trek back to where his companion and cabin are.

Waddling through the thick forest with a mouthful of fish, Marco began to pick up on something. Something moving through the undergrowth around him…

Something big…

“Blue!” came a cry from the otherside of the forest. “Blue, where are you?” Marco could hear the worry in her voice, urging him onwards despite the lurking danger.

Just as he was about to move once more, he paused and turned to look back over his shoulder. Only to meet the burning gaze of a massive huge tiger staring right back at him, its fangs bared and its tongue licking its chops. It’s intentions for the phoenix clear.

Without a second thought, Marco burst into action!

Fleeing as fast as he could through the undergrowth, the tiger hot on his heels. His heart hammered in his chest as he tried to lose the predator but his vibrant plumage acted like a beacon for the hungry beast!

Spitting the fish out of his mouth, Marco did the first thing that came to his mind and he cried out in terror, beseeching anyone who could hear him to help him!

Suddenly, he could feel another presences rapidly approaching them through the underbrush and Marco dove downwards just as the presences burst over top of the bush ahead of him!

It was his partner!

With her trusty weapon in hand and a mighty warcry, she bounded into battle! Undaunted and unafraid of the massive tiger, she held her ground and challenged the beast.

Unsurprisingly, the battle lasted for a few minutes before the tiger fled in pursuit of easier prey elsewhere on the island. Marco had stayed around to watch the fight, to make sure that everything turned out okay.

Marco peeked out from under a nearby bush to look up at her, a pang of guilt ran through him upon seeing the gashes on her.

When she finally turned her gaze from the fleeing tiger to him, Marco found himself flinching and looking away, feeling like a child who did something wrong.

However, when her face softened and she fell to her knees in front of him, she wrapped him up in her arms and held him close.

“Thank the Maiden that I came in time!” she buried her face into his feathers and let out a sob of relief. “Why on earth did you leave? I was so worried,” Marco sighed to himself and mentally berated himself for his actions.

‘I still feel as though I did the right thing though,’ Marco found himself thinking as he was finally released from her grasp.

“Come on, we should get back to the cabin,” he could hear her sniffle softly as she stood up and was moving towards the cabin. But, Marco was quick to stop her by grabbing on to the back of her shirt and stubbornly stay where he was.

She looked back at him confused before tugging at the piece of cloth in his beak. “Come on, we need to hurry and finish the cabin!” she was getting frusturated but Marco stood strong and even gave an annoyed honk.

It was then that he abruptly let go and started walking back to where the other fish are. Confused at his behaviour, she followed after him.

When they finally got back to the pond, Marco was pleased to notice that his fish were left undisturbed. It was then that he waddled up to the pile, grabbed a fish from the top of it in his beak and walked back over to her and offered up the fish, hoping that this could properly convey his reasons for leaving.

It seemed that it worked because a look of realization flickered across her face before a smile broke out, the first one in 3 days.

“You went to go and get food for us?” she said incredulously.

Marco nodded his head.

“Thank you, Blue,” she smiled down at him before wincing slightly and grabbing her shoulder. “Your always surprising me,” she takes the fish from his beak. “Come on, I think we’ve worked hard enough. Lets get this fish back to the cabin and then we can cook them up there.”

With that, they returned to the cabin and cooked all of the fish that they could carry. Having some for now and had the rest for dinner.

Later on that night, Marco found himself awake and restless with she slept as soundly as she could on the cold cave floor, much like the night of the storm. However, this time to source of his restlessness came from his guilt over causing his companion such stress and pain. In an attempt to alleviate some of her pain, Marco tried to call on his flames to heal her. Standing as close to her as he could, Marco extended his beautiful wings outward and searched for that familiar cool flame in his chest.

At first, there was nothing.

Then suddenly, a spark of cold light flickered for but a moment before dying.

Marco furrowed his brow in frustration before trying once more.

Seconds later, a brilliant flash filled the cave! For a second, Marco felt like he used to. For a second, he wasn’t a tiny little bird but instead an elegant phoenix in all its glory and beautiful. With wings alit with the flames of resurrection, teal and gold flecks of light flickered of his form.

Marco basked in the warm feeling that filled his chest before focusing down unto the now small figure that lay at his talons, looking down unto her and feeling her pain, he felt a single tear well up from his eyes. Shining like the north star, the teardrop slowly trickled down to the tip of his beak before it dripped off and onto a wound on her shoulder.

He watched as slowly a couple of flames sprouted up and healed the wounds on her body, watching the pain finally fade from her face to leave a peaceful expression and she finally fully relaxed.

Seconds later, Marco abruptly changed back into his much smaller form, so much so that it gave him a small headache. Despite, the linger frustration of being small once more, Marco was feeling much better now that she wasn’t in anymore pain.

At peace with the situation, Marco made himself comfortable next to her and settled down to sleep. His mind blissfully blank for once in a few days...


	5. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Powers unlocked, truths revealed and freedom found on the Wings of Fire.

The final week has begun, the final week before Marco can finally return to the Moby, return to his brothers and father. The closer he got to the date, he couldn’t help but sing happily. It didn’t help that everything had finally gotten better for him and his partner! After the fiasco a few days ago, they managed to find enough food to work comfortably and the weather had been nice and balmy. Although, despite not saying it out loud, Marco could see that she was horribly confused at the lack of scarring from the wound she had received that day.

All in all, everything was going very well.

Marco had even managed to start flying again!

Soaring above the small island, Marco couldn’t help but muse how easy it would be to simply leave to find the Moby Dick.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to.

No, he would wait until he was finally finished growing. Fortunately, he wasn’t that far off but he still had to wait…

Happily flying just over the treetops, Marco looked down in between the trees, searching for his partner. She was supposed to be hunting for food right now but as of recently, she’s been acting strangely.

‘Where could she be?’ pondered the first commander. ‘Perhaps she is back in the cave, yoi,’ turning mid-air, Marco quickly flew to the cave where they were finally able to move into the new cabin a few nights ago.

Upon getting a closer look to the cave, Marco was relieved to see her sitting at the mouth of the cave, watching him from down below. However, the dejected, sad look on her face made Marco pause.

‘Why does she look so sad?’ wondered the commander as he landed gracefully down in front of her, the beating of his wings kicking up some dust in the process. Approaching her, Marco let out a low and soft coo and tilted his head in question. To which, she only smiled sadly before looking down at the meaningless doodles she was drawing in the dirt.

“Ya know Blue, you’ve gotten really good a flying,” she looked back up at him. “Much better than how you used to flop around before,” she giggled at that, Marco gave her an unimpressed look. “But, Maybe it’s time for you to be thinking about leaving the island,” her tone wavered slightly as she swallowed heavily.

‘Ah, so that's what this is about, yoi,’ Marco found himself thinking. ‘Sorry, your not getting rid of me that easily,’ without so much as a sliver of doubt, the phoenix moved towards her.

“Come on, Blue. Don’t make this any harder for me!” she exclaims as she pushes him away gently. “You’re gonna leave eventually,” she whispered softly under her breath, it was then that a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Not having any of this, Marco extended his wings outwards and gently framed her face. Leaning forward, Marco gently presses his forehead against hers, cooing softly all the while.

Surprised by this, she froze up before relaxing and hugging Marco to her. They stayed there like that for a few moments, then when they parted, she smiled at him.

“Thank you, Blue,” then she looked away sheepishly. “I’m sorry for snapping.”

In reply, Marco simply chirped happily, to let her know that it was okay.

“You really are a strange bird, I swear you act like a human sometimes,” she jokes, yet Marco found himself chuckling internally.

‘If only you knew,’ he chuckles.

The rest of the days were spent in relative peace, aside from the few attacks from the tiger, to which Marco was quick to put an end to by simply glaring the tiger into submission. With each day, the Phoenix found himself growing stronger and stronger as he was able to manifest his flames more and more but only for small increments of time.

Until the morning of the final day…

Nesting where he usually did by his partner, Marco woke to the familiar building feeling in his chest that grew hotter and hotter with each moment. Snapping awake, the phoenix looked down at his chest to see a few flickers of his flame before finally it exploded outwards in a brilliant blaze of teal and gold flames.

Woken by the abrupt flash of light, _____ recoiled from him and let out a gasp of surprise as she covered her eyes to prevent herself from being blinded.

Feeling the power radiate throughout his entire body, Marco couldn’t help but coo in relief as he no longer felt weak or vulnerable anymore. Extending his wings outward and upwards, he took a moment to enjoy the renewed power thrumming through every atom of his being. He was brought out of his moment by the sound of a small gasp from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Marco looked back to see his partner staring at him with wide surprised eyes.

“Wow,” she murmured under her breath, the Commander couldn’t help but preen under her admiring gaze. “So, pretty~!”

Smirking to himself, Marco fully turned around to her and was finally able to return to his human form. With a lazy smirk still in place, Marco watched with glee as her eyes went even wider, the reality of what was happening for the past month finally dawning on her.

“Hey,” Marco greeted calmly.

“WHAT?!” she exclaimed. “Wait, the fire, the chest mark, the healing?! WHY DIDN’T I FIGURE IT OUT?!” It was then that she quickly scrambled to her feet, on full guard in the presence of such a powerful pirate. “YOU’RE FUSHICHOU MARCO!! OF THE WHITEBEARD PIRATES!!”

However, Marco couldn’t help but chuckle softly as she had her freakout, completely unphased. “I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out either, yoi.” He took this moment to simply enjoy being in his normal body.

“W-wait! I’m confused! Why were you a tiny birdy?!” she paused in her freak out, her hands gently pulling at her hair at the stress of this revelation.

Simply shifting his weight from one foot to another, he began to calmly explain. “It’s a side effect of my Akuma no mi. After a certain amount of time, I am reborn but for about a month, I am weak and vulnerable,” It was then that he approached her, after seeing her start to relax. “So, thank you for taking such good care of me,” he calmly smiled down at her as he gently took her hands in his own larger ones.

“Oh, uh, no problem,” she quietly replied, seemingly at a loss at this sudden turn of events.

“Now then,” Marco crossed his arms over his chest and smiled down at her. “How can I ever repay you? Hmm, How about I take you away from this place?”

“Take me? Take me where?” She asks.

“To the Moby Dick, of course. I know Pops would love to meet you,” Marco extends his hand towards her. “Unless you want to stay her-”

“No! Please, I don’t want to stay here any longer!” she cut him off. The fact that she now has a way off the island, an island that she thought was gonna be her tomb, made her cry tears of joy. Knowing that they had both seen each other at their most vulnerable, it wasn’t an awkward affair as Marco simply embraced her and whispered calmly in her ear that everything will be alright, something he’s been doing since the beginning.

“It’s alright, you’ll never be alone ever again,” Marco rubbed her back soothingly as she cried into his chest for a few moments. “I promise.”

When she had finally gotten herself together, the first division commander told her to get her things together, because they were gonna leave immediately. Marco wanting to be with his crew as soon as possible and she just straight up didn’t want to be on this island any longer.

Then after everything was ready, the two set off into the sky to find the Moby Dick.

Although, much to everyone’s surprise, it was just leaving one of the closest islands to the one that they were on.

As they approached the ship, they could hear voices coming from it and soon, the entire crew was on the deck, cheering loudly at the sight of their first commander. However, some stopped upon seeing someone on his back.

Landing on the figurehead of the Moby Dick, Marco carefully let her off his back before they were swarmed by the crew in a matter of seconds. While, some gave her a curiously look, most people were focused on the return of their first division commander. Marco didn’t even have a second before a rather disheveled Thatch was barreling through the crowd and tackling the zoan user to the floor, earning a round of laughs from the crew.

Staying back somewhat from the group, she watched the scene unfold as more and more people came forward to welcome the first division commander back.

It was only when Marco reached out to her and lead her across the deck that anyone really paid attention to her, some teased Marco, asking him if she is his new girlfriend, earning a rude gesture from the Phoenix zoan.

She just laughed the entire time.

It was then that she followed Marco into a clearing on the deck and before she knew it, she was standing before the Strongest Man on the Sea, Edward Newgate.

“It’s good to see you back, son,” he welcomed them.

“It’s good to be back, Pops yoi,” returned Marco.

“Who is that behind you, son?” Whitebeard nodded his head towards the young woman who was hiding behind Marco.

“Pops, this is _____, she took care of me during my rebirth,” the first commander pulled her out from behind him, causing her to startle some what. Yet the encouraging smile from Marco calmed her down, cautiously she looked up at the mighty pirate captain before her.

To which Whitebeard merely smiled down at her before letting out a deep rumbling laugh. “Good to meet, _____,” leaning back in his seat, Whitebeard grabbed a hold of a huge barrel with one hand and took a deep swug from the contents. “Now then, Everyone lets throw a party for the return of our First Division Commander!” an roar of cheers erupted from the crew and soon everyone was in motion, getting ready for the impromptu party.

“Is it always like this?” she turned to Marco, to which he only smiled and nodded his head in reply.

Moments later the two of them were fully immersed in a full blown party. As the party went on ____ got to meet all of the commanders and most of the crew came up and offered their thanks for taking care of Marco, one commander with an impressive pompadour actually hounded her for any stories of their brother during his rebirth.

To which, the phoenix zoan always somehow managed to interject and derail the story.

As the party went on, _____ felt herself slowly growing tired and overwhelmed by the stimulation of being around so many new people after years of isolation. So, she politely and quietly extracted herself from the merry making and went to hide around the back of the ship.

After a few moments to herself, she finally noticed that she had company, it was Thatch. Now, looking much better that Marco was home.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked quietly, the cook figured that being around so many people was bound to cause a little bit of shock for her. “I know that it must be alot for you to be around us but if it’s okay I’d like to say thank you,” he trailed off slightly.

The young woman looked over at him curiously. “For what?”

“For looking after my brother and bringing him back to us,” he stated simply.

“Oh,” she blinked at him before looking back out towards the party. “Should we head back?”

Thatch nodded his head in agreement before he moved towards the where the party was currently going on. “Yeah, we should. Plus Pops wants to talk to you,” ____ raised her brow at that as they headed back to the party.

When they walked back to the main deck area, Thatch lead her back to the center of the deck, where she was previously to properly address Whitebeard. With Marco sitting on the arm of his chair, Whitebeard smiled down at her when she looked up at him, pleased that she didn’t cower away from him like before. With Thatch taking his place among the other commanders, Whitebeard finally addressed her once more.

“_____, For taking such good care of Marco, I thank you,” Whitebeard cast a fond look to his first son. “Take my name, bare my mark and,” he stated firmly. “Become my daughter!”

Surprised by this sudden invitation, her eyes widened as she looked up at Whitebeard before looking over at the encouraging smile that Marco was giving her. After a second of quiet, the crowd erupted into eager whoops, urging her to accept the offer.

To which, she happily accepted.

With that, the party went back into full swing, this time in celebration of their new sister.

**Author's Note:**

> So, Marco is gonna grow bigger over the course of this fic and as a result, I'll be keeping track of how big he is at the beginning of each chapter after this point. So, for reference sake, he is about the size of an adult zebra finch right now.
> 
> As always, thank you for the support and don't hesitate to comment as I am always looking for some good critiques, so I can continue to improve!


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